1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to folding portable telephones, and more particularly, relates to a folding portable telephone which is folded to be carried, and is unfolded to be used to make telephone conversations.
Portable telephones are structurally divided into two types: a folding type and a so-called stick-type, which does not have a folding structure.
When folded, a folding portable telephone becomes so much smaller in size than a stick-type portable telephone that the folding portable telephone is easy to carry compared with the stick-type portable telephone. However, the folding portable telephone requires unfolding and folding actions every time a telephone conversation is made, which is not the case with the stick-type portable telephone. Therefore, the folding portable telephone is desirably structured to facilitate its unfolding and folding actions for enhanced operability thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1A is a perspective view of a conventional folding portable telephone 10 folded to be carried and FIG. 1B is a perspective view of the conventional folding portable telephone 10 unfolded to make telephone conversations. The conventional folding portable telephone 10 can be automatically unfolded by pushing a button provided thereto. The conventional folding portable telephone 10 includes a first housing 11 including operation buttons 14, a second housing 12 including a display section and a hinge 13 connecting the first and second housings 11 and 12. The first housing 11 includes the operation buttons 14 and a microphone 15. The second housing 12 includes a liquid crystal panel 16 as the display section, an antenna 17 and a speaker 18. A hinge module 19 and an oil damper 20 are incorporated into the hinge 13. A button 21 is provided close to the hinge 13 on a side lla of the first housing 11.
When not in use, the conventional folding portable telephone 10 is folded as shown in FIG. 1A with the second housing 12 coupled to the first housing 11 by a lock claw 22.
On the other hand, when a user makes telephone conversations, the user holds the first housing 11 of the conventional folding portable telephone 10 in the palm of a left hand 30, and pushes the button 21 with a thumb 31 of the left hand 30. By this operation, the lock claw 22 is moved back inside by a rotation lever 23 to release the lock on the second housing 12, so that the second housing 12 is rotated with respect to the first housing 11 by a spring 19a in the hinge module 19 in an opening direction indicated by the arrow A shown in FIG. 1B. As a result, the second housing 12 is opened by approximately 145 degrees up from the first housing 11. The oil damper 20 allows the second housing 12 to be opened slowly. Then, the user stretches out the antenna 17 and talks on the unfolded conventional folding portable telephone 10 brought close to the face with the speaker 18 touching the ear.
When the telephone conversations are over, the user manually retracts the antenna 17 and rotates the second housing 12 in a closing direction indicated by the arrow B shown in FIG. 1B until the second housing 12 is coupled to the first housing 11 by the lock claw 22. In this way, the conventional folding portable telephone 10 is folded as shown in FIG. 1A.
The oil damper 20 functions also in the case of rotating the second housing 12 in the closing direction. Therefore, the closing action of the second housing 12 is made against the viscous force of the oil damper 12, preventing the second housing 12 from being quickly closed. Thus, the operability of the conventional folding portable telephone 10 is not considered good enough.
The lock on the second housing 12 of the folded conventional folding portable telephone 10 is released not only by pushing the button 21 as previously described, but also by forcibly rotating the second housing 12 to some extent with respect to the first housing 11. The button 21 is pushed with the thumb of the left hand 30 of the user holding the conventional folding portable telephone 10 in the palm thereof. However, the user has to use both hands to forcibly rotate the second housing 12 with respect to the first housing 11. This is another reason why the operability of the conventional folding portable telephone is not considered sufficient.
It is a general object of the present invention to provide a folding portable telephone in which the above disadvantages are eliminated.
A more specific object of the present invention is to provide a folding portable telephone which allows its folding action to be made quickly with little force.
The above objects of the present invention are achieved by a folding portable telephone including a first housing to be held in a hand of a user, a hinge attached to one end of the first housing a second housing movably supported by the hinge, a damper unit incorporated into the hinge and a unidirectional clutch unit incorporated into the hinge, wherein the unidirectional clutch unit is connected to the damper unit so as to allow the damper unit to generate given resistance with respect to a rotational movement of the second housing when the second housing is rotated in an opening direction thereof, and to prevent the damper unit from generating the given resistance with respect to the rotational movement thereof when the second housing is rotated in a closing direction thereof.
According to the above-mentioned structure, the folding portable telephone can be quickly folded with little force as the damper unit does not function in the folding action of the folding portable telephone.
The above objects of the present invention are also achieved by a folding portable telephone including a first housing to be held in a hand of a user, a hinge attached to one end of the first housing, a second housing movably supported by the hinge, a damper unit incorporated into the hinge, a unidirectional clutch unit incorporated into the hinge, a lock mechanism which provides a lock on the second housing to keep the second housing closed down to said first housing, the lock being released when said second housing is pried open, a spring which presses the second housing in an opening direction thereof, and a space between each of corresponding longitudinal sides of the first and second housings when the folding portable telephone is folded so that the second housing is pried open by inserting a finger of the user into each of the spaces, wherein the unidirectional unit is connected to the damper unit so as to allow the damper unit to generate given resistance with respect to a rotational movement of the second housing when the second housing is rotated in an opening direction thereof, and to prevent the damper unit from generating the given resistance with respect to the rotational movement thereof when the second housing is rotated in a closing direction thereof.
The above objects of the present invention are also achieved by a folding portable telephone including a first housing to be held in a hand of a user, a hinge attached to one end of the first housing, and a second housing movably supported by the hinge, wherein a space is formed between each of corresponding longitudinal sides of the first and second housings when the folding portable telephone is folded so that the second housing is pried open by inserting a finger of the user into each of the spaces.
The above objects of the present invention are further achieved by a folding portable telephone including a first housing to be held in a hand of a user, a hinge attached to one end of the first housing, a second housing movably supported by the hinge, a lock mechanism which provides a lock on the second housing to keep the second housing closed down to the first housing, the lock being released when the second housing is pried open, and a spring which presses the second housing in an opening direction thereof, wherein each of the first and second housings is shaped like an arc so as to form a space between each of corresponding longitudinal sides of the first and second housings when the folding portable telephone is folded so that the second housing is pried open by inserting a finger of the user into each of the spaces.